This film tries to fill in the blanks for us and we get to watch an amazing story unfold.

The first half is slower and more cerebral than the action packed second half, but both are equally enjoyable because we know that this all takes place in that Galaxy Far Far Away that we all know and love.

This film is definitely a great addition to the film canon of the series.

I loved the new characters (my favorite is Chirrut) and it was great seeing the old characters that we know and love pop up here and there. ( I won’t spoil it, but there are some great cameos by lesser characters that you need to keep your eyes peeled to catch them.)

They then are able to seamlessly weave the new and old characters and story together so well that it truly feels as if this is the beginning of a story that we already know how it ends.

The feel of the film is done amazingly because, we are easily transported back to a universe that feels “lived in” and dirty and is reminiscent of everything that George Lucas created 40 years ago for us all to love and enjoy.

What must have been a challenge for them was to reverse engineer the story so that it fits in to what we already know about it while still keeping things interesting enough despite knowing how the story is continued.

I can’t wait to watch this one again and again and I’m sure that it will end up high on my list of best films of the year when I finalize my list at the end of January.

Bottom Line – Excellent addition to the “new” Star Wars canon. Loved the new characters along with once again seeing many of the old ones. They do an amazing job weaving the story into the already known aspects and characters of the story. Really has the feeling of the Star Wars universe that we all know and love and it was great watching it all unfold despite knowing what comes next. Really can’t wait to see this one again soon. Highly Highly Recommended!

MovieRob’s Favorite Trivia – After Disney’s purchase of Lucasfilm, John Knoll heard about some of the early concepts for new Star Wars movies and wasn’t impressed with any of them. He began developing his idea for this film and started talking it up to his fellow ILM employees, refining the story into a 30-minute pitch. People at ILM liked it so much that he was encouraged to bring it to ‘Kathleen Kennedy’, the new president of Lucasfilm. She loved the pitch and the movie was put into production. (From IMDB)

I just saw this yesterday. Impressive. ‘Most impressive’. I liked the cameos too, along with a few of the easter eggs. I felt it was a bit slow to get going too, since I didn’t read Catalyst, but it picked up for sure. I wish we got to know the characters better – especially our lead ‘hero’. I also wish the music was more ‘familiar’. That said, the positives far outweigh any ‘negatives’. Rogue One was definitely more geared towards the adult audience. The last act was amazing!.My fav character was K2SO. Overall, a great addition to the franchise, but I preferred last year’s Episode VII. Where does this rank for you?